Pacha Collective

 

7/23/26 Pacha Collective

I’d been marching through a long list of what I call death management tasks. None were painful, difficult or surprising; all were tedious, time-consuming and sometimes required visits to government offices (Social Security required me to appear in person with our original marriage license). Even processing the death certificate – that most official, undeniable declaration that the love of my life is gone – felt abstract and completely detached from the man I said good-bye to.

Methodically checking off my list the way I used to manage projects at work, I finished in eight days. (Well, two documents still need to be notarized during a brief meeting with our attorney, but my part is done.) I celebrated the way I used to celebrate each task or milestone during my massive downsizing project: A pastry and a sketch, of course!

When I’ve poked my nose into the Green Lake neighborhood’s Pacha Collective on other occasions, the tables were always full. On this comfortable day following our heatwave, I guess people wanted to be outdoors; the café had several open tables. Unfortunately, the one I got wasn’t at a very good angle to sketch the café’s centerpiece: A full-size VW bus, complete with seating and tables inside! I wanted to show more context so that it was clear that the bus was inside the café. I’ll look forward to doing that next time (and someday, I’d like to dine inside the bus, too).

Ironically, the coffee cake I chose came from Macrina Bakery,
where I have given up trying to get a table!

What I did have a good view of were a couple of patrons on the café’s far side. The man in back chose to stand while he worked at his laptop, giving me an unusual composition.

Few and Far Between

 

3/14/26 Maple Leaf

The sketches I make while on my (nearly) daily fitness walks have been few and far between. I was encouraged, though, when I saw that our unexpected snowfall last week didn’t seem to have harmed any of the plum and cherry blooms that are just getting started. Though the temp was only in the mid-40s, I stopped to make a quick sketch to celebrate the victory (at left).

I’ve included sketches here that I made at cafés when I had to duck indoors to warm up before continuing on. Yes, they count, because sometimes I can’t kick my butt out the door unless I promise myself a break along the way.

Sketchbook notes: You heard me muttering recently about wanting white paper as a daily-carry during pink tree season but not wanting to carry a second book, yada-yada-yada. After the small Stillman & Birn didn’t work out, I chose a lavender Uglybook as my next daily-carry. It’s pale enough that pink shows up OK – a good compromise during a precious season. When I go out for serious petal peeping, I’ll bring a larger white sketchbook, of course.

1/23/26 Maple Leaf Park

1/27/26 Green Lake

2/4/26 Maple Leaf Park

2/18/26 PCC cafe

2/19/26 view from Macrina Bakery

3/2/26 Green Lake

3/3/26 Maple Leaf

Fewer Creatures Stirring

 

12/24/25 Shoppers heading for the Shoreline Costco exit.

Last year a friend had told me that the best day of the year to shop at Costco is Christmas Eve. As someone who avoids entering Costco anytime between Thanksgiving and New Year, I was skeptical. What about frantic, last-minute gift buyers and people prepping for the big Christmas day meal? It defied logic, but as I was getting low on basic supplies nearing Christmas Eve, I decided to give it a shot. She was right! It was the least crowded I had seen in years.

This year I made my last Costco shopping trip the week before Thanksgiving, then waited until Christmas Eve for my next trip. Although it seemed a bit more crowded than last year, I ran around (2,000 steps on my FitBit) getting all my usual staples in 20 minutes. More impressively, none of the checkout stations had lines!

That afternoon, I wondered if the same could be true at other venues that are mobbed the rest of the year. For science, I stopped at Macrina Bakery on my way back from a walk. The space where a couple of large tables usually are had been taken over with shelving to organize all the orders waiting for pickup. Even with that reduced seating, I got my favorite seat, and several other spots were available.

12/24/25 Macrina Bakery, Maple Leaf neighborhood

Huh! Next year, I’ll have to think of some other usually crowded spot to test.

Downsizing, Phase 3: Satisfying Progress

 

10/28/25 Macrina Bakery, Maple Leaf neighborhood

Downsizing, Phase 3, which began Oct. 12, is progressing apace. The attic space is much smaller than last year’s basement, so it’s satisfying to see results each time I work on it.

The “easy” part was filling eight large garbage bags with junk heading for the landfill. Compared to the basement, I did more of the bagging of small stuff myself this time. The attic space is narrow, and some areas require stooping to get into. I tried to imagine three large men maneuvering around in there, tossing junk into bags, while I got in their way trying to see if the stuff they put into those bags wasn’t something I wanted to keep. It was just easier and more efficient (though tiring) to do it myself. They’ll have plenty of large, heavier things to haul out without my help.

10/12/25 Although most of the junk I've been digging through has been pure drudgery, coming across Greg's collection of eyeglasses was amusing. It was like an optical fashion history of the past half century. I tossed most but saved a few newer pairs that looked in good condition to donate to Costco's eyeglasses reuse program. I also saved this pair -- the one he was wearing in 1985 when we met.

The less easy part was separating the recyclable paper – decades of magazines (for example, Consumer Reports going back to the '90s), catalogs, brochures, newspaper articles, greeting cards, letters – from sensitive papers that must be shredded. I filled my huge recycle bin so full of heavy paper that I had to ask a kind neighbor* for help rolling it down my sloped driveway. The bin weighs so much more than I do that it would surely drag me into the street! And that was not even all of it. I had four more shopping bags full of paper that, with their permission, I put into a different neighbor's recycle bin. 

Finally, I had to sort out many envelopes and folders of income tax records, home remodeling documentation and other necessary papers that must be retained (though I eventually plan to digitize all of those and shred the hard copies).

10/13/25

The hardest part will be (eventually) discarding photo albums, mementoes and other items that are filled with memories and sentimental value. I’m leaving those things for Phase 4. For the current phase, I’m focusing on organizing the load that will be hauled down two flights of stairs and out the door on Nov. 13. Nothing like pinning down a date with Kevin, my junk guy, to light a fire under me and get things done!

* An aside: I've been living alone now for nearly two years. Among the many things I've learned in that time, one is the importance of getting to know one's immediate neighbors and feeling comfortable asking for help when it's needed. Although I've always known most of them well enough for casual chit-chat in the driveway, none of us talked about personal things. Shortly after Greg moved to Aegis, I made a point of informing each family that I live alone now. I knew that I might need help someday, and it also feels better getting to know them. They have all been very kind and helpful. For my part, after those recent recycling bin favors, I was happy to offer my scheduled junk truck if my neighbors have unwieldy trash to toss in!

Three Maple Leaf Stories

 

8/27/25 Macrina Bakery, Maple Leaf neighborhood

I hadn’t been to Macrina Bakery in ages! Partly it’s because I haven’t been indulging in pastries as much, now that I’ve run out of ways to reward myself (but downsizing activities will resume in the fall and winter, as will the rewards!). A larger part, though, is that Macrina is often so crowded that I can’t get a seat. After dropping off the Subaru at Chuck’s Auto for routine maintenance, it was early enough that I found seat – one of my favorites by a front window. It gave me an easy view of one of the many knotty linden trees on Roosevelt Way (I had sketched another one a couple of years ago).

Walking home, I spotted not only an urban couch but two additional chairs waiting to be “re-homed.” A free, instant livingroom! In fact, even as I sketched, an interested party pulled over to examine the goods. The look on his face said that the price wasn’t right.

A couple blocks from the couch, I was shocked to see an empty lot where a house once stood, not too long ago. There wasn’t much to sketch there, but I noticed a couple of large pickups, likely belonging to contractors on site. As I sketched, a man living in the house next door to the empty lot came out, so I asked him about it: In place of the single-family home that had been there, four new houses will be built.

We both frowned at the prospect, but he had an upside: His two-year-old son was thrilled by the earth movers and other demolition equipment he’d seen so far, and surely more to come. At least the two-year-old and I have that in common.

A Third Place

5/11/25 Chocolati, Greenwood neighborhood (For the record, this brownie drenched in hot fudge sauce was so huge that I could eat only a quarter of it at a time!)

For most of my adult life, I have longed for a “third place.” Traditionally, the third place is a pub or bar where people stop after work for a pint with familiar faces before heading home. Rather than an evening pint, an afternoon coffee has always been more my vibe. When I was single, I enjoyed taking my journal out to cafes on lazy Sunday afternoons before the next work week began. As a strong introvert, I wasn’t necessarily seeking conversation or community, but I liked the feeling of recording private thoughts in a public space. And people watching was always fun.

Throughout my working life, I continued taking occasional breaks from work and home chores by seeking out coffee shops, but I never really found a place that had exactly what I was looking for. Maybe I’m too picky: The shop couldn’t be too small nor too large. The music couldn’t be too weird or too loud. Ideally, it should be within a 15-minute drive and with easy parking. The ambiance had to be comfortable in just the right, difficult-to-articulate way. And it goes without saying that the coffee and snacks had to be good. Is that so much to ask?

5/17/25 Revolutions Coffee, Green Lake neighborhood

When I started sketching, the requirements became even stiffer. I still needed all of the above, plus the tables had to be set at angles that made it easy to sketch other patrons. And good lighting, preferably from big windows. Back in the day (spoken with that familiar tone of everything-was-better-in-the-past old fogeyness, emphasized with a deep sigh of resignation), people read hard copy books and wrote in paper journals, so cafes with good lighting invited such patrons. Now, most patrons use screens, so lighting isn’t important or even welcome.

And speaking of those people on screens, some are using those potential third places as their actual work places – occupying tables for hours, conducting meetings or job interviews, and writing their PowerPoints, all for the price of a latte. Zoka Coffee, one of my favorite indoor spots when I first began sketching, became impossible in later years because seating became so competitive. (Not to mention that their pastries went downhill. Pfft – that put an end to that.)

5/26/25 Macrina Bakery, Maple Leaf neighborhood

Most recently, I had high hopes that Macrina Bakery would become my third place. When it first opened, it seemed to check all my boxes with the added benefit of being within (too-easy) walking distance. Fairly quickly, though, it became too popular. I’ve stopped in many times lately when I couldn’t find a single seat available.

As you know, I visit many coffee shops in my own ‘hood and outside of it, hoping one will feel just right and become my third place. I’m still searching.

Reservoir Tavern and Other Walk-Sketches

4/2/25 Reservoir Tavern, Maple Leaf neighborhood

Although sporadic rainy days continue, it’s getting easier to take daily fitness walks as the temperature becomes more hospitable. On one of the sunnier days, I took a bit longer than I usually do to sketch a linden tree and the Reservoir Tavern (known colloquially by neighbors as “the Rez”), right next door to Macrina Bakery. Although I’ve never been inside this long-time Maple Leaf institution, I’ve been meaning to sketch it for a long time. Maybe on a warmer day this summer, I'll come back to make a more leisurely portrait.

3/19/25 Green Lake neighborhood

My barber is in the Wedgwood neighborhood, so as the weather improves, I’m looking forward to taking more fitness walks in that area after getting haircuts. Just like sketching, I am constantly looking for opportunities to combine fitness walking with anything else I already have to do. I guess that makes me a lifestyle fitness walker, just like I’m a lifestyle urban sketcher. 

4/6/25 Pink petals falling fast in the Wedgwood neighborhood

Spring for a Day

 

3/18/25 Metro Market, Crown Hill neighborhood

3/25/25 magnolia tree, Maple Leaf neighborhood

On March 18, I went out on my first petal-peeping mission to see how my favorite cherry streets were doing. As expected, all the buds were still tight (journal page above). Less than a week later, a freaky warm front brought sunny temperatures in the high 60s and even 70s. Hallelujah, spring was finally here! OK, so it only lasted a day, but it seemed like the whole city was outdoors rejoicing. More significant, those warm temps will surely push the blossoms to open!

After walking around Green Lake, shedding layers as I went, I took the top down for the drive home. Spotting a magnolia just starting to pop, I basked in the sweet sunshine to sketch it.

That afternoon, I stopped at Macrina Bakery (below) for the annual ritual that marks my personal harbinger of spring: The first al fresco iced coffee!  

3/25/25 Macrina Bakery, Maple Leaf neighborhood

Pi Day

 

3/14/25 Macrina Bakery, Maple Leaf neighborhood

Given that geometry was never my favorite subject, Pi Day is not usually one of the holidays I observe. But toward the end of a busy Friday when I needed a break, I had no objection to a mini maple apple pi at Macrina Bakery.

Not only was I able to snag a seat at all at this always-busy place, I was lucky enough to get my favorite window seat with a great view of a bumpy, old linden (which I had sketched from the same window shortly after Macrina opened in 2023). It’s a nice spot that also gives me a view of the Maple Leaf Reservoir water tower and park walkers.

Near-Miss on National Croissant Day

 

1/30/25 Macrina Bakery, Maple Leaf neighborhood

I may have ambivalence about Facebook, but if it hadn’t been for my Facebook “Memories” reminding me of my past observances of National Croissant Day on Jan. 30 each year, I might have missed it altogether!

Gratefully spared of that tragedy, I gave myself a break from income tax work to observe the important holiday. Since we have a CPA who does the heavy lifting, the hardest part about tax stuff is just getting started with the tedious prep. As I’ve experienced many times with downsizing tasks, I have a bad habit of procrastinating and procrastinating, and the longer I do, the more onerous it becomes (in my mind). Once I get started, though, it doesn’t take much time because by then I’m motivated to finish quickly. So the chocolate croissant wasn’t just a national observance; it was also a reward for getting started earlier in the tax season than I usually do.

Natalie’s Birthday Party

12/31/24 Macrina Bakery, Maple Leaf neighborhood

The card I made for Natalie
(drawn partly from imagination and inspired by
a photo of her wearing these holiday accessories)

On the last day of 2024, Natalie invited me and a few other friends to her sketchy birthday party at Macrina Bakery. Friends, sketching and cake – what better way to usher out one year and greet the next? I'm grateful for all of it.

A Birthday and Other Small Celebrations

11/15/24 Macrina Bakery, Maple Leaf neighborhood

I had a birthday last week – not a “big” one, but an ordinary, run-of-the-mill one. Still, I enjoy milking birthday celebrations for as long as I can. The first was a little sketching party with a few friends at Macrina Bakery (above).

The next was a personal tradition I’ve had for decades: Going to the Green Lake Starbucks early on my birthday for my free drink (one of few perks that haven’t been eliminated). When I worked full time, another personal tradition was to take a vacation day on my birthday (because working on my birthday was against my principles), and even then I enjoyed getting up early for that free drink. Before I became a sketcher, I just brought it home, but now I usually drink it there and sketch.

11/16/24 Green Lake Starbucks

The third sketch journal page below is a small celebration of my ongoing downsizing project. I’ve been losing momentum lately because the tasks are more onerous now: Tedium combined with sadness is not a good recipe for enthusiast productivity. I kind of dread it, and at the same time, I’m getting close to the end, so I want to finish – but it’s slow. The small load I took to Goodwill on this day is probably the last for a while – all the rest is either trash (not much), recycling (lots) or shredding (hopefully not too much).

11/21/24 Victrola Coffee Roasters, Ballard neighborhood

Beauty Remains

 

11/6/24 Japanese maple

Wednesday, another day focused on self-care, called for taking multiple walks in the neighborhood, and it was an amazing day for that. Under a constantly changing mix of clouds and sunshine, colors seemed especially brilliant, even as most trees were on the far side of their peaks. The red Japanese maple outside Macrina Bakery (at right), for example, had already lost most if its leaves, yet it reminded me of how much beauty remains.

Paper notes: Not wanting to carry too much bulk, I had left my Hahnemühle sketchbook at home, so I made do with the tan Uglybook I’ve been using for Pencilvember. Although I love the glimmers of light I can make with white ink or pencil on toned paper (see below), other colors always look dull. Uglybooks paper can’t take much water, so the light activation couldn’t bring out the intensity that’s so easily achieved with good paper.

So now that’s at least two reasons why this tan paper isn’t working for me right now: It’s harder to achieve strong value contrasts with graphite when the paper is already a midtone, and colors look dull. At least while the trees are still glowing, I need to go back to white paper.

11/6/24 Kwanzan cherries

Walk-Sketch Randomness

10/18/24

9/24/24 

Most of my walk-sketches get posted on my blog chronologically because I have some kind of story to tell, either about the subject, media explorations, or whatever. Still, I realized I had some sketches from September and October that I hadn’t shared. I don’t want to get too far behind, so I’ll catch up here, along with a few for Pencilvember.

10/27/24

The one from Sept. 24 (top left) is something of an anomaly. Out for a walk with my daily-carry Uglybook, I wanted to capture the thick fog on that strangely warm morning, and watermelon red just wouldn’t do it. I didn’t have a white sketchbook, but I always have a Field Notes jotting notebook and a graphite pencil with me.

The only other sketch here with much of a story is Oct. 18 (top right) – an excavator digging up trees and roots from a driveway and yard. Back in August, I wrote a post about an old, dilapidated garage I see whenever I get a table at Macrina Bakery’s outdoor seating area. Out of place on that tidy street, the eyesore of a garage had been that way for years. Not too long after I made that sketch, I walked by one day and realized that it had been taken down! On Oct. 18, I saw that the entire yard was being excavated, including some small trees. The excavator operator saw me sketching and alerted the owner, who was attending.

“Is there a problem?” the owner said, crossing the street toward me with a worried expression. (People seem to interpret sketching as furious notetaking.)

“Oh, no problem at all – I’m enjoying sketching your excavation!” I replied. Relieved, he started chatting about his ongoing plans. His project is done now, and the landscaping looks nice, but strangely, I sort of miss the garage, even if it was an eyesore. I’m glad I sketched it when I did.

Included in this randomness are graphite sketches from a few days ago. The Faber-Castell Pitt Graphite Matt pencil that I started Pencilvember with wasn’t doing it for me, so I’m trying out different pencils now. The 8B Mitsubishi Hi-Uni Super DX and the Viarco ArtGraf water-soluble graphite pencil both hit the spot in terms of darkness and softness, but unfortunately, they both smudge badly and reflect light. Activating with water, however, takes care of both the ArtGraf’s smudging and shininess. That might be the best solution.

11/4/24 (ArtGraf, Inktense, white Derwent Drawing pencil)

11/4/24 (ArtGraf, Museum Aquarelle and 
Inktense)

11/4/24 (Hi-Uni Super DX 8B, Museum Aquarelle)

I’m also regretting that I chose the tan Uglybook . . . perhaps I should have gone with a white one, as was my first inclination. With white, it’s very easy and fast to get the high contrast I want, and I can probably use harder graphite grades if I want to.

(Fussing about media sure is fun! I’ve missed it!)

I'm having fun mixing in some color with the graphite! Ahhh, pencils -- how I've missed you!

Documenting Un-Junking

9/17/24 Macrina Bakery, Queen Anne neighborhood

Instead of feeling like a chore as it occasionally has in the past, my sketch journal process has become fun and engaging, mainly due to subject matter: my downsizing project. I enjoy documenting meaningful objects and key events, including my little celebrations of accomplishments.

10/4/24 Caffe Ladro, Roosevelt neighborhood

A critical part of making my sketch journal process possible is sometimes using photo references, even for simple objects that are easily accessible for drawing from life – and that’s a huge change of attitude for me. Long-time readers of this blog know that I have always been so focused on drawing from life that switching to photo references has sometimes been a challenge. I still strongly prefer drawing from life, but in this case, I don’t want anything to interrupt my unjunking process. I’m like the proverbial shark: Once I start clearing an area, I need to keep moving.

10/9/24 Green Lake Starbucks (Sometimes my sketch journal is just about ordinary life.)

10/10/24 Mr. West, U Village

10/16/24 photo reference

The mini vac on Oct. 16 is a good example. When that long-missing item finally came to light, I knew I wanted to document it, but I did not want to set aside the vacuum cleaner until I sketched it. It was easy to snap a photo in the moment, then move on (the vac had been replaced long ago, so I gave it away).

10/17/24 The "We Take Junk" team, who came to my house a total of 4 times. (Photo reference)

10/19/24 When Chris installed my hardwood floors several weeks ago, he spotted the table saw in the basement. I told him I was getting rid of it, and his eyes lit up. I was very happy to know it was going to a good home. (Photo reference)

I’ve also been snapping quick photos of people that I want to include in my documentation. Obviously, I don’t want to get in the way of workers, and often I’m too busy myself helping with the work. I know it must sound so obvious to people who have always been comfortable drawing from photos, but for me, it’s a liberating and novel experience not to draw everything as it is happening.

10/21/24 Santo Coffee, Roosevelt neighborhood (a reward for the previous week's unjunking efforts)

The spread shown below was a spontaneous page design experiment. When I made the sketch of the voting box, my intention was to use the rest of the spread to document something else that happened that day, but I forgot and never finished the spread. The next day, I wanted to document the celebratory doughnuts I had gotten for my junk-removal crew (after four visits, each lasting several hours, you get to be good friends with the people hauling all your junk out). Although I typically would not put two days on a spread, especially crossing the gutter this way, it suddenly occurred to me: Why not? I do it all the time when all the sketches are occurring on the same day – what difference does it make if the sketches occur the next day?

10/23/24 and 10/24/24 

I like to think of myself as a creative person, but sometimes the most obvious things take a long time to occur to me! Anyway, I like the way the composition of the spread came out, and I’m going to push myself to think outside the boundaries of the single page more often. I always enjoy the challenge of making images fit together on a small page – especially since I never know what the next sketch will be.